


In Which Bitty Gets Fan Mail

by sylviarachel



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Falcs TV, Hockey culture, Letters, M/M, episode 4.20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylviarachel/pseuds/sylviarachel
Summary: As we saw in comic 4.20, Bitty's been getting a lot of fan mail! Jack's been getting the odd letter, too. Bitty's been feeling a bit overwhelmed by his workload, and writing isn't his best thing, and the good folks in Falconers social media know a PR goldmine when they see one.Exclusively on AO3, iiiiiit'sFalcs TV with special guest stars Zimmboni & B!!
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Comments: 32
Kudos: 212





	In Which Bitty Gets Fan Mail

**Tater** : [to camera] HELLO, FALCS TV! It’s Tater! Today we’re have special episode with special guest stars. Jack Zimmermann! [to  **Jack** ] Say hi, Zimmboni!

**Jack:** [waves] [little Jack-smile]

**Tater:** And Eric Bittle!! [to  **Bitty** ] Say hi, Little B!

**Bitty:** [waves] Hey, y’all! [big grin]

**Tater:** Today we’re answer fan mail for Zimmboni and B! Very exciting.

[cut to pile of envelopes. We can’t see what’s underneath, but on top is one addressed to Captain Eric R. Bittle, ℅ the Samwell Men’s Hockey Team. The handwriting looks vaguely familiar.]

**Tater:** Little B! This letter is from fan in [tries to pronounce  _ Worcester _ ; fails] [someone off-camera corrects him] [ **Tater** looks at camera like, WTF?!] They want to say 

[reads]  _ thank you for helping to show people you can be an awesome hockey player and also be gay! I am a guy who likes guys and I’m always scared to tell anyone because I love hockey and I want to keep playing and get better, but I don’t want to spend my whole life in the closet. There’s a guy I like at school and I  _ _ think _ _ he might like me??? And I want to ask him out like a regular person! How did you tell your team? How did you tell your parents? Good luck in the playoffs!!!  _

[looks up] You have answer for them?

**Bitty:** [sighs] Believe me, hon, you don’t want your parents to find out the way mine did, when you kiss your boyfriend on national TV! [looks sideways up at  **Jack** ] [looks back at camera] So, I told my team one or two at a time at first, and believe it or not, it took me a while to get started! Here I’d come all the way up from Georgia to Massachusetts just so I could finally be myself, and it was almost Thanksgiving before I actually said the words “I’m gay” to another human being. But it did get easier after that! [pauses] [sighs] I wish I’d managed to tell my parents sooner. I tried, I really did! I just … it was hard, y’know? I’m their only child, and they thought they knew everything about me, and half of me was scared of how they would react … and I guess the other half just, you know … I hated keeping so much of myself a secret, but what if they were disappointed in the real me? What if they couldn’t love the real me?

[ **Jack** puts one arm around  **Bitty** ]

**Bitty:** [to  **Jack** ] Thanks, sweetpea. 

[to camera] It took us a while to get back on track, but my parents have been great. I know it hurt them to find out from the Stanley Cup broadcast instead of from me, though, and I wish I hadn’t done it that way! You know what, though, you gotta know your own situation and be safe. My parents didn’t react like I was scared they would, but not everyone’s as lucky as me. Good luck with your parents and your teammates, Worcester, and remember, anyone who reacts badly? That’s on THEM, not you. [makes heart shape with hands]

**Tater:** Thank you, B! 

**Tater:** I have letter for Zimmboni! This from fan in Calgary. 

[reads]  _ Dear Jack Zimmermann, My brother is bi and we both play hockey. It means a lot to both of us that such an awesome player is out as bi! Some of the guys on our team know about him, but it’s hard sometimes to know who you can trust. Sometimes he talks about wanting to be out to everybody, but most of the time he says he’d rather keep it to a few people. I was drafted for the WHL next season  _

[looks at camera] Congrats, Calgary guy! 

[reads]  _ and I won’t be around to look out for him. How can I make sure he’ll be OK? _

**Jack:** Congrats on the Dub, man! That’s awesome. I’m not gonna lie: it can be really hard. Things are changing, but not always fast enough, and I’m sorry to say that the change can be pretty unevenly distributed. But what doesn’t change is that the key is to find a group of people who will have your back no matter what. If your brother has even just a few teammates he can really, truly trust, he’ll be okay! It won’t always be easy, but it will be okay. That’s something I learned playing at Samwell and with the Falcs: when you can be your real self with even one other person, everything starts to get a little better. 

[squeezes  **Bitty** , kisses his hair; doesn’t seem to realize he’s doing it] 

It’s also important to realize that it’s not his job to be out to the whole world if he doesn’t want to be! Coming out is a process. Your brother has a right to keep some things private if he wants to, just like anyone else does. Even straight people! 

[ **Bitty** and  **Tater** laugh] 

Haha. Your job is to support him and be there for him no matter what he decides, and no matter how far away you are. And to call out homophobia and other kinds of bigotry whenever you see or hear it, not just when it’s affecting your brother directly. That’s called  _ using your privilege _ . 

**Tater:** Thanks, Zimmboni!

**Tater:** This letter for B from fan in Georgia! [looks at camera] Is state of Georgia in USA, where Little B come from. Not country of Georgia. Important difference! 

[reads]  _ Hi Eric! You don’t know me, but you probably kind of know my life, because I live in a little town where it seems like most everybody thinks being queer is a ticket straight to Hell. I’m real lucky because my football coaches say I’ve got a good chance at some college scholarships in a couple years, so I won’t have to be here forever. The thing is, though, I don’t actually like playing football--it’s just, I’ve been playing since my dad signed me up for Pop Warner when I was five, and I’m good at it. I do okay at school, but I’m not on the honor roll or anything, so if I want to go to college out of state, a football scholarship is definitely my best option. But if I do that, I’m signing up for four more years of doing something I hate, not to mention I’ll probably get another concussion or two before I graduate. My parents don’t know I’m gay, and I don’t know how to tell them or what’ll happen if I do. And they don’t know I hate playing football, and I don’t know what they’d say if I told them that, either! It’s like … part of my identity, at this point, and sitting at the dinner table like “Hey mama, hey daddy, I hate playing football and I want to quit” would blow their dang minds, I’m pretty sure. I don’t really have a question for you or anything! I just felt like I wanted to talk to someone who might understand.  _

[looks at camera] Georgia, you want backup to tell parents anything, you send me DM on Instagram, okay?

**Bitty:** [to camera, with hand on heart] Oh, honey. I feel you so hard! My daddy’s the football coach at the high school in our town, and boy, if you ain’t ever lived in a small place in the southern United States, you have  _ no idea _ how much everything revolves around football! In some ways, hon, you’re probably having an easier time than I did, because my peewee football career ended in tears and indignity the first time I got tackled, and let me tell you, if you’re trying to stay under the radar? Figure skating is not the best choice of sport to take up instead! But … I get the feeling you got it a lot worse than me in some other ways, because at least I got to do something I loved. I wish I could give you a big hug and tell you it’s gonna be okay! Because I am confident that it will be okay, but it’s so hard right now. I know you didn’t ask me for advice, but I gotta give you one little piece of advice anyway: It’s okay to do something for yourself, do something that makes  _ you _ happy, choose the thing that keeps  _ you  _ safe. You get to have nice things, hon! It gets better, I promise! I’d love it if you could keep me posted on how you’re doin’.

**Tater:** Thank you, B! [to camera] I wonder if Georgia like pie! Little B makes best pie. 

[bats eyelashes at  **Bitty** ]

**Jack:** [off-camera, trying not to laugh out loud] Tater, the pie is for  _ after _ the Falcs TV episode. You’re not going to get it sooner by sweet-talking Bitty.

**Tater:** This letter for Zimmboni from fan in Montreal! [frowns dramatically at letter] Uh-oh, Zimmboni. This one in French. You’re translate please! 

[hands letter to  **Jack** ]

**Jack** , who was not forewarned: Euh, okay?

[reading, slowly, translating as he goes]  _ Dear Jack … I play for  _ [looks up] euh … I’m not gonna say the name of the team, sorry. 

[reading]  _ There’s a lot of guys on the team who …  _ euh …  _ who use words that are negative towards gay people, and some of them, if you tell them that’s not cool, they just laugh and say you’re a  _ … euh, nope, I’m not gonna translate that! 

[reading]  _ There’s a guy on the team this year that I got to be really good friends with. He’s an amazing playmaker, and he’s really smart and funny. And maybe I’m just making shit up, but I think it’s possible he might  _ euh …  _ might like guys? But I don’t know how to just ask someone that. I’m not gay, but I’m not homophobic! I would like my friend to know that if he wants to tell someone, he can tell me, and I’ll be cool with it. I don’t know how to do that--how to tell him that I’m a safe person to tell. _

[looks up] Hooo boy! Haha. So, I’m gonna tell you the same thing I told Calgary: the number one thing you can do is call that shit out when you hear it! If other people are saying shit, and you tell them to stop, hopefully they’ll stop. Unfortunately, sometimes they won’t! But even still, you’ve done the right thing. But you gotta do it every time! Like, you can’t do that thing people will do sometimes, where you go “Oh, don’t tell that racist joke in front of So-and-so, don’t you know his mom is black?” Racism is still racism when everyone in the room is white, and homophobia is still homophobia even when everyone in the room is straight! And, you know [arches an eyebrow significantly], you never know when there might be a queer dude in the room with you. We look just like regular people.

**Bitty:** [rolls eyes] [shoves  **Jack** gently]

**Jack:** Anyway, Montréal, you don’t have to do a whole speech to your friend, like [air quotes]  _ I’m an ally! You can tell me if you’re queer! _ That’s … not really a great thing to do, actually? If you want to seem like a safe person, you gotta  _ be _ a safe person. Be someone who never uses homophobic slurs, who always calls out homophobia, someone who treats women like people, just ... just generally a good person, I guess? But here’s the thing: your friend doesn’t have to tell you anything. Even if there is something to tell, he doesn’t owe it to you to tell you, or to tell anyone! You should do all this stuff because it’s the right thing to do, not because you’re trying to get at your friend’s deepest secrets. It’s not like a competition where if you get the most Ally Points, you win the Best Friend Secrets Cup.

**Tater:** Thank you, Zimmboni! Is good advice. 

[to camera] We have one more letter today, is for B. 

[reads]  _ Dear Bitty, I’m really proud of you. I’m proud of how far you’ve come as a hockey player, I’m proud of you for being a great captain and taking care of your guys, I’m proud of you for making progress on your thesis.  _

[to camera] B, you finish thesis?! Good for you! 

[reads]  _ I’m proud of you and the whole team for the season you’ve had and everything you’ve achieved on and off the ice. _

[Camera pans to  **Jack** and  **Bitty** side-eyeing each other.]

**Tater:** [reads]  _ I know it’s a lot of pressure to be under, and I know it’s hard. I know that being the first out gay captain of an NCAA men’s team is adding even more pressure and stress, and I want you to know that you’re handling it a lot better than you think you are. _

[Camera pans back to  **Jack** and  **Bitty** .  **Jack** is increasingly blushy and sheepish-looking.  **Bitty** is visibly torn between mortification and heart-eyes.]

**Tater:** [reads]  _ I believe in you, bud. I know you’re nervous about graduating and what comes after college, but I want you to know, it’s all gonna be okay, because you have a lot of friends, and you have your parents and my parents, and you have me, and we’ve all got your back. Love, Jack.  _

[to camera] Awwww, Zimmboni is best boyfriend!

**Bitty:** [to  **Tater** ] Alexei Sergeyevich Mashkov, we are gonna have  _ words _ . 

[to  **Jack** ] Jack, I--

**Jack:** I’m sorry, Bits, I didn’t know he was gonna read that one on camera.

**Bitty:** Oh, sweetpea, I’m not mad at  _ you _ .

[ **Jack** and  **Bitty** hug.  **Bitty** glares at  **Tater** over  **Jack** ’s shoulder.]

**Tater:** … does this mean I’m not get to eat that pie?

**Bitty:** Bless your heart.

**Tater:** [looks at camera, terrified] Bye-bye, Falcs TV!

**Author's Note:**

> "Worcester" (in this case, it's a town in Massachusetts) is pronounced "Wooster", like in Jeeves & Wooster. No, I don't know why. And if you think that's weird, wait'll you find out how "Featherstonehaugh" is pronounced D:


End file.
